Surfin’: Eschewing Clutter

This week, Surfin’ complains about the clutter confounding the Internet.

Google-Verizon plan: Why you should worry

Dan Gillmore blogs that “Ominous references to the ‘public Internet’ inescapably suggest something else entirely.”

Read the rest of the story here to find out why you should worry.

Surfin': Addicted to the Internet

This week, Surfin' discovers what it takes to have an Internet addiction.

By the way, "Astor Paradise Suites" (aka Hilton Garden Inn) did not repair their Internet access during my stay and I will never stay there again.

Surfin': Old and New, But Nothing Blue

Like a bride, this week's Surfin' features some new things and some old things, but no borrowed blue things.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

10 things you should know about the Internet

...including the fact that Al Gore actually did sort of create the Internet.

Read the whole story here.

Surfin': Google Earth's Ionosphere

This week’s Surfin’ explores the Earth's ionosphere via Google Earth. After you read it, come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Surfin': Splat That Path Online

In this week’s Surfin’, read about a Web site that determines how well your signal gets from here to there. Then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

satellite spotters learn too much for the government's comfort

This article is an interesting follow-up to what I wrote here on the 7th.

Surfin': Guarding the Coasts With Our Radios

This week’s Surfin’ explores how ham radio operators can help the US Coast Guard. Read it here, then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Surfin': Widget to Read This

This week’s Surfin’ reveals a new Amateur Radio widget for the Mac OS X. Read it here, then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

Surfin': Gobble, Gobble, Google

Wow! I was so busy this holiday weekend and I didn't even shop! And I was so busy that I forgot to blurb on about this week's Surfin', which talks about Google and my editor's fascination with Google's Elmer Fudd interface.

Which reminds me that on Thanksgiving Day, we took the bus to NYC and watched the Macy's parade. Elmer Fudd was not among the balloons in the parade, but we did see Snoopy, Scooby Doo, and the weird silver "Playboy Bunny" balloon!

Read this week's Surfin', then come back here to post your comments, if any.

By the way, Surfin’ is a weekly column published on ARRLWeb features Web sites related to Amateur Radio, specifically, and radio, in general. If you have any suggestions for Surfin’, please contact WA1LOU using the e-mail link to the right.

online interactive sky chart

I am still following the progress of Comet Holmes. If the sky is clear, I go outside with my binoculars at night and view the skies.

I also check the Sky & Telescope Web site for news regarding the comet and anything else that is newsworthy in the sky. Today, I discovered that the web site has an interactive sky chart that allows you to "create a custom naked-eye map of the whole sky for any place on Earth, at any time of day or night, on any date from 1600 to 2400." Their sky chart works in most Java-enabled Web browsers.

You have to register with Sky & Telescope in order to access the sky chart (registering is no big deal and its free). Once you register, you can access the chart and customize it for your location, which takes about one minute to do.

I do have Stellarium on my Mac, which provides the same functionality, but I can access Sky & Telescope's sky chart from any computer with a browser and that can come in handy when I don't have my Mac at ready.

e-mail weirdness

Whenever I check my e-mail for the first time on any given day, I expect to find 50 to 100 new e-mails. Most of it is junk, some of it legit, but I can always expect a large quantity first thing in the morning.

Today, there was nothing new in my two e-mail accounts that are served by different Internet service providers (ISPs). A few new e-mails have come in since I first checked about two hours ago, but nothing like the amount I usually receive.

What gives?

If both accounts were on the same ISP, then I'd figure that the ISP was at fault, but the accounts are on different ISPs!

I don't miss the junk, but I am afraid that some real e-mail has been lost overnight.

Nuts!